Dustin Adams
Age at Arrest: 25
Date of Birth: 12/01/1990
Arresting Agency: Chattanooga
Last Date of Arrest: 08/26/2016
Charge(s):
THEFT OF PROPERTY (OVER $10,000)
A 26-year-old inmate who has escaped twice during the last three months was found hiding in a vacant house in Polk County, Tenn., on Sunday - two days after he fled from Moccasin Bend Health Institute in Chattanooga.
Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff's Office discovered fugitive Dustin Adams inside a home on Isabella Avenue in Copperhill, Tenn., around 10 p.m. Sunday, records show.
Deputies knew the house should be empty but saw movement when they peered inside a window. When they went inside to investigate, Adams jumped up from a bed and threw a bedspread at them, according to their report.
The deputies grabbed Adams as he tried to hide under the bed. He apparently broke two windows and a lock on a sliding-glass door in order to get into the house, the deputies wrote.
Adams was reported missing from Moccasin Bend Health Institute around 7:30 p.m. Friday. He'd been sent to the hospital from the Hamilton County Jail for a mental evaluation on Dec. 6, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. He faced theft, burglary and escape charges.
In September, Adams and another inmate became the first people to escape from the Hamilton County Jail in at least 15 years.
The pair broke a second-floor jail window and used tied-together bed sheets to climb to the ground on Sept. 5. They fled on foot, in their underwear. The other inmate was recaptured within hours, but Adams went on a three-day crime spree before he was recaptured in Fannin County, Ga.
He now faces criminal charges in multiple jurisdictions, including three new charges from his latest escape: aggravated burglary, vandalism and a probation violation.
It's not clear how Adams traveled more than 80 miles to the home in Polk County after his Friday escape, but he was covered in bloody cuts and scratches in his booking photo.
Michael Jones, director of communications at the Tennessee Department of Mental Heath and Substance Abuse Services, on Monday refused to give any details about Adams' escape, citing privacy laws.
"Patient safety and security are always our top priority at Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute," he wrote in a statement.
Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at sbradbury@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6525. Follow @ShellyBradbury.